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Value-for-money

Festuca glauca Elijah Blue

Festuca glauca Elijah Blue
Blue Fescue, Grey Fescue

4,5/5
58 reviews
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It thrives and is undemanding.

mariemini, 27/08/2024

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This plant carries a 12 months recovery warranty

More information

Value-for-money
This fescue is a small, evergreen perennial grass that forms a dense and compact tuft resembling a small, bluish hedgehog. This lovely plant, which thrives in poor soils, is very hardy and drought-tolerant. It is perfect for challenging areas, as ground cover, in borders, rock gardens, containers, or at the front of flower beds.
Flower size
10 cm
Height at maturity
30 cm
Spread at maturity
30 cm
Exposure
Sun
Hardiness
Hardy down to -18°C
Soil moisture
Dry soil
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Best planting time March, October
Recommended planting time February to May, August to September
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Flowering time June to July
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Description

The Festuca 'Elijah Blue' is a beautiful improvement of the Blue Fescue, whose fine foliage shows magnificent intense steel-blue reflections. This small perennial and evergreen grass forms beautiful cushions with a slightly bristly habit, from which gracefully trailing silver spikelets rise in the second half of spring, bringing a subtly luminous touch to the plant. Particularly resistant and very reliable, 'Elijah Blue' perfectly tolerates dry soils and is perfect for difficult areas, lovely as ground cover, border, scree garden, containers, or at the front of borders.

Originally from Central Europe and rocky areas of the western Mediterranean, the blue fescue has long been naturalized in various regions of the world because it is both undemanding in terms of soil, perfectly hardy, and very drought-resistant. Like many grasses, it belongs to the large family of poaceae. In nature, it grows in dry and poor terrain, sandy and stony soils, and in full sun. It is the origin of some beautiful cultivars selected for their increasingly astonishing blue color, including 'Elijah Blue', one of the most resistant and long-lived.

This non-trailing perennial forms small stiff hemispherical tufts, very dense and rounded, 25-30 cm (10-12in) in height and width. Its evergreen foliage consists of very fine, stiff leaves with a very bluish gray color, covered with a waxy film that gives it a metallic appearance and also reflects light as an excellent adaptation to dry environments. Flowering occurs from the end of June. Very thin blue-coloured flower stems emerge from the center of the tuft. They bear slightly loose silver spikelets at their tips. Over time, these inflorescences take on a more yellowish hue, indicating that their seeds are ripe. These seeds are dispersed by the wind, sowing here and there in light soils. The lifespan of the plant is around 5 to 6 years in poor and well-drained soil.

The 'Elijah Blue' fescue, comfortable everywhere, will easily find its place in a rock garden, a scree garden, a slope, along a pathway, and can even be an alternative to grass in dry areas, in lightly trafficked zones. Its light spikelet flowering gives this little vegetal hedgehog a pleasantly tousled appearance that softens its rigidity. It can be mixed, for example, with ground-covering plants like lamb's ears (Stachys lanata or cretica), Artemisia alba, soapwort, Erigeron karvinskianus, creeping baby's breath, and many others. Its very blue tufts are also very beautiful around Fargesia bamboo. It also adapts very well to container cultivation, allowing to lighten certain floral compositions or to fill the base of a small palm tree, a candle cactus, or an Adenium, for example.

Festuca glauca Elijah Blue in pictures

Festuca glauca Elijah Blue (Flowering) Flowering
Festuca glauca Elijah Blue (Foliage) Foliage

Flowering

Flower colour green
Flowering time June to July
Inflorescence Spike
Flower size 10 cm

Foliage

Foliage persistence Evergreen
Foliage colour blue

Plant habit

Height at maturity 30 cm
Spread at maturity 30 cm
Growth rate normal

Safety measures

Potential risks Plant that can cause respiratory allergy due to pollen

Botanical data

Genus

Festuca

Species

glauca

Cultivar

Elijah Blue

Family

Poaceae

Other common names

Blue Fescue, Grey Fescue

Origin

Cultivar or hybrid

Product reference844812

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Planting and care

Plant the 'Elijah Blue' fescue in spring or autumn, in properly drained soil, preferably neutral to limestone, moist to dry in summer, even stony, sandy, and rocky, in full sun or partial shade. In case of intense drought and over time, the center of the clump sometimes becomes bare. It is then necessary to divide the plant to rejuvenate it. Shorten or mow the foliage in late February, before the new foliage emerges. This truly undemanding grass requires no other care.

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Planting period

Best planting time March, October
Recommended planting time February to May, August to September

Intended location

Suitable for Meadow, Rockery
Type of use Edge of border, Container, Slope
Hardiness Hardy down to -18°C (USDA zone 7a) Show map
Ease of cultivation Beginner
Planting density 9 per m2
Exposure Sun
Soil pH Neutral, Calcareous
Soil type Chalky (poor, alkaline and well-drained), Silty-loamy (rich and light), Stony (poor and well-drained)
Soil moisture Dry soil, poor, light, sandy, well-drained

Care

Pruning instructions Trim the foliage if necessary in late February, before the shoot of new foliage.
Pruning Pruning recommended once a year
Pruning time March
Disease resistance Very good
Overwinter Can be left in the ground
4,5/5

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